A considerable amount of noise and particulate debris can be generated from exhaust ports of various pneumatic tools, such as wrenches, drills, and grinders. Over the years, there has been various attempts at muffling the noise generated from the exhaust and venting the particulate away from a tool operator. For instance, a pneumatic hand tool exhaust muffler described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,209,678 B1, issued to Sterling, on Apr. 3, 2001, is attached to or positioned within an exhaust passage defined by a handle of the pneumatic tool. The muffler is either integrated into the handle of the pneumatic tool, or requires a pneumatic tool with an exhaust port of a specific size for mating with the muffler. Thus, the muffler must be specific for a certain type and size of pneumatic tool, and may not be removed from the pneumatic tool handle after manufacturing.
Moreover, the Sterling muffler includes an outer housing in which a plurality of separate dividers are positioned about an inner tube having a plurality of holes and a cutoff wall. During operation of the pneumatic tool, exhaust can flow into the muffler via an inlet of the inner tube, and out of the inner tube through the plurality of holes upstream from the cutoff wall. The exhaust then can flow around and/or through the dividers, back into the inner tube through the holes downstream from the cutoff wall, and out the muffler via an outlet. The tortuous exhaust flow path, including the path through and around the dividers, slows the flow of exhaust, thereby muffling the exhaust noise. Supposedly, the more tortuous the flow path, the greater the reduction in sound. However, excessive slowing of the exhaust flow can produce a back pressure within the pneumatic tool that adversely affects the operating power of the tool. The Sterling muffler does not include an adjustment feature that allows the operator to adjust the exhaust path in order to achieve the greatest reduction in sound without decreasing the tool's operating power.
The present disclosure is directed at overcoming one or more of the problems set forth above.